Topic: KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011

[KinkyCyborg]

I love Donnie Darko and think it's one of the best films of the last ten years. I watched it with several friends at the cinema and we all had different ideas about what had actually happened, discussed it in detail and went and watched it again the next night and had different opinions on what had happened on that viewing. Director's Cut spoilt it in my opinion and I haven't seen S. Darko yet.

Perhaps a second viewing is in order to see if I can achieve some enlightenment. Ironically I just picked up the Bluray for Donnie Darko, not so much because I really wanted it but at the $5 used price tag it seemed too good of a deal to pass up.

I saw Martian Child July 25th 2009 and my note was:- John Cusack is very good in this but unfortunately the boy who plays the 'martian child' just wasn't a good choice for the role. Decent story if formulaic. 3/5

I thought the young actor Bobby Coleman did pretty good. He may have appeared a bit robotic but I think that was the point early in his role as he had pretty much cut off his emotions but as his character opens up later in the film so does the scope of his performance.

[KinkyCyborg]

Sirens



Title:Sirens
Year: 1994
Director: John Duigan
Rating: NC-17
Length: 94 Min.
Video: Pan & Scan 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:
Hugh Grant
Tara Fitzgerald
Sam Neill
Elle MacPherson
Portia De Rossi [Portia De Rossi]

Plot:
A young reverend and his wife are on the way from England to Australia to minister to their flock. The bishop asks him to visit an eccentric artist prone to sexual depiction's and request that he voluntarily withdraw a controversial work call "Crucified Venus" from his show. The minister, who considers himself a progressive, is shocked at the amoral atmosphere surrounding the painter, his wife, and the three models living at his estate. The minister's wife is troubled also, and has to deal with latent sexual urges while trying to remain loyal to her husband.

Extras:
Scene Access
Production Notes

My Thoughts:

Erotic tale about a woman who travels with her husband to meet an eccentric Australian artist who paints nudes much to the chagrin of the Catholic Church of the 1930s. During her stay she discovers her intense sexuality that had lain dormant inside her.

Gratuitous amounts of full frontal nudity, including super model Elle Macpherson but this movie is painfully slow and at times I found myself bored stiff.

I'm sure given his exposure to these beautiful but morally challenged women this must have been Hugh Grant's inspiration to go off some years later in search of prostitutes.  A very young Portia De Rossi has a line in this movie where she declares 'I am through with men!!' If she only knew!! Sam Neill plays the crackpot artist.

If you are into voyeuristic movies or just plain like looking at boobies you should enjoy this.

KC

Rating:

[Achim]

I like Donnie Darko for the strange events and how everything is set up to be closely related. Admittedly, I never fully understood the end , even with the Director's Cut . But it is clearly meant to be ambiguous and the ending allows interpretation, requires it even (did this just happen, or is Donne nuts?).

S. Darko is the attempt go cash in a little more with the fans and from what I can see simply retells the story . I am certain it is regarded highly inferior by pretty much everybody.

[KinkyCyborg]

Cahill : United States Marshall



Title:Cahill: United States Marshal
Year: 1973
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Rating: PG
Length: 103 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Stars:
John Wayne
George Kennedy
Gary Grimes
Neville Brand
Clay O'Brien

Plot:
Lawman J.D. Cahill can stand alone against a bad-guy army. But as a widower father, he's on insecure footing raising two sons. Particularly when he suspects his boys are involved in a bank robbery...and two killings.

Filmed on location in the high desert of Durango, New Mexico, this suspensful saga offers a hearty helping of the stoic charisma that made John Wayne a long-time box-office champion. Summer of '42 discovery Gary Grimes — as Cahill's rebellious older son — joins a cast of tough-guy favorites (Neville Brand, Denver Pyle, Harry Carey Jr., and George Kennedy) and such other Hollywood greats as Marie Windsor and Jackie Coogan in a deft blend of trigger-fast action and heroic sentiment.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Enjoyable Duke film which sees his two young boys getting mixed up with a gang of bank robbers led by bad ass George Kennedy.

Good story and some fun along the way. There are so many things to admire about John Wayne. His presence and swagger, his macho confidence and even his style but I've noted from the last couple of his movies that I've watched is that he is can also be a real smartass too!  Some of his biting quips and insults are classic.

Neville Brand is great as the half-breed tracker Litefoot. He too is very humorous and my oh my what big teeth he has!!

Been a long time since my last view of this but I hope to revisit it sooner rather than later for my next viewing.

KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Carnivàle: The Complete Second Season



Title:Carnivàle: The Complete Second Season
Year: 2005
Director: 1. Los MoscosJeremy Podeswa, 2. Alamogordo, NMJack Bender, 3. Ingram, TXJohn Patterson, 4. Old Cherry Blossom RoadSteve Shill, 5. Creed, OKJeremy Podeswa, 6. The Road to DamascusTucker Gates, 7. Damascus, NEAlan Taylor, 8. Outskirts, Damascus, NETim Hunter, 9. Lincoln Highway, UTRodrigo Garcia, 10. Cheyenne, WYTodd Field, 11. Outside New CanaanDan Lerner, 12. New Canaan, CAScott Winant
Rating: TV-MA
Length: 634 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
1. Los MoscosMichael J. Anderson
Adrienne Barbeau
Clancy Brown
Debra Christofferson

Plot:
As the final war between Good and Evil looms, two powerful avatars divided by fate share one mission. For Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin, the race is on to find the mysterious and elusive Henry Scudder -- and the fate of the world depends on who finds him first.

EPISODES:
1. Los Moscos
2. Alamogordo, NM
3. Ingram, TX
4. Old Cherry Blossom Road
5. Creed, OK
6. The Road to Damascus
7. Damascus, NE
8. Outskirts, Damascus, NE
9. Lincoln Highway, UT
10. Cheyenne, WY
11. Outside New Canaan
12. New Canaan, CA

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Going into Season 2 of Carnivale I was expecting to be disappointed, discovering why it ended after just 2 seasons. I was disappointed... but not because of the show... it was great! I'm just terribly disappointed that it's now over with but left completely wide open with much more story to tell!!

This prompted me to do some Googling which revealed that the first two seasons were only one third of the story arc that was planned but HBO pulled the plug on it for a perceived lack of interest. What makes this somewhat surprising is that I thought only the networks were so heavily influenced and swayed but the fickle audience but I guess HBO looks at ratings as well. Damn pity as this was a great series.

The final episode was climactic with some shocking twists and a favorite character of mine getting bumped off. The closing scene plays like the beginning of a new chapter but there won't be any. Shame on you HBO!!! 

This doesn't get a perfect score due to the cruel cliffhanger.    However, I did enjoy it thoroughly.

KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Signs



Title:Signs
Year: 2002
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: PG-13
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital EX: 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), French: Dolby Digital EX: 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1)
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Mel Gibson (1956)
Joaquin Phoenix
Rory Culkin
Abigail Breslin
Cherry Jones

Plot:
From M. Night Shyamalan, the writer/director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, comes the story of the Hess family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. One morning they wake up to find a 500-foot crop circle in their backyard.

Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) and his family are told extraterrestrials are responsible for the sign in their field. They watch the news as crop circles are soon found all over the world.

Signs is the emotional story of one family on one farm as they encounter the possibility the world is being invaded.

Extras:
Scene Access
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Multi-angle
Storyboard Comparisons
Closed Captioned
THX
Night's First Alien Film

My Thoughts:

Crop circles explained!!

Some view this movie as the beginning of the decline of M. Night Shyamalan's films after his brilliant debut with The Sixth Sense followed by the comic book magic he weaved with Unbreakable. Personally I didn't find Signs to be a let down at all, it likely being my 2nd favorite of his films, a close second behind Sixth Sense. The Village definitely marked a steep drop off in quality for him followed by an equally weak Lady In The Water.

Signs delivers intense suspense and thrills without an overbearing presence of action or violence which is a notable accomplishment in itself. As events unfold and the dawning realization of what this Alien presence could mean sets in, you are ultimately dragged towards the scary conclusion, needing, craving to see what it is knowing full well it might scare the shit out of you. I thought it was masterfully done.

Important questions of faith are raised in this film, centralizing on Mel Gibson's character, a former priest who stopped believing after the death of his wife. He pulled off the square, somewhat naive personality of his character in fine fashion. Joaquin Phoenix as his younger brother is fantastic as he plays a man whose own confidence and beliefs has always been directly been tied to his brother and now seeing his rock in life crumbling, he now finds himself on uneven ground and scared.

Great acting, great story, great eerie atmosphere, great movie.

Rating:

[Najemikon]

I like Signs and don't think it was the start of the decline. But that's only because Shyamalan's flaws were always there! Signs was the first film that couldn't hide them. When I first saw Unbreakable I thought it was a fantastic twist on the superhero formula and the determination not to use a set-piece or extravagant action was so refreshing. But in Signs there is a scene that reveals he simply can't do action or hold tension within a shot. For me the sequence where

(click to show/hide)

the alien is confronted in the house and Gibson realises the connection with the water and Phoenix stood under his baseball bat

just doesn't work. They just seem to stare at each other until a near zombified Phoenix finally reacts! That always annoyed me. Still, his films look great and I loved the early glimpses of the creatures.

Film4 here in the UK are showing two of his films on TV next week. The promo advertised Sixth Sense for Friday and The Happening for Saturday, and follows up with an interview with Shyamalan, the "Auteur". Their words.

[Achim]

I like the first two acts of Signs very much, but think that it falls apart in the third.

(click to show/hide)

Aliens that have a problem with water trying to invade a planet which has its surface covered 70% by oceans...?

It did show that it was the beginning of the decline. What was next...? The Village (one good act and then falls apart from the second onwards), Lady in the Water and The Happening.

I absolutely adore The Sixth Sense (throws dust in my eyes every time) and agree that Unbreakable was a very interesting twist (SPOILER) on the superhero genre.

[KinkyCyborg]

I like Signs and don't think it was the start of the decline. But that's only because Shyamalan's flaws were always there! Signs was the first film that couldn't hide them. When I first saw Unbreakable I thought it was a fantastic twist on the superhero formula and the determination not to use a set-piece or extravagant action was so refreshing. But in Signs there is a scene that reveals he simply can't do action or hold tension within a shot. For me the sequence where

(click to show/hide)

the alien is confronted in the house and Gibson realises the connection with the water and Phoenix stood under his baseball bat

just doesn't work. They just seem to stare at each other until a near zombified Phoenix finally reacts! That always annoyed me. Still, his films look great and I loved the early glimpses of the creatures.

Film4 here in the UK are showing two of his films on TV next week. The promo advertised Sixth Sense for Friday and The Happening for Saturday, and follows up with an interview with Shyamalan, the "Auteur". Their words.

The moment you speak of in your Spoiler tag didn't bother me as it played out more like a Mexican standoff with

(click to show/hide)

the alien realizing his predicament, having been left behind and knowing the child was his only leverage then those final moments with his wife and her cryptic last words came to him at that moment which led Gibson to tell Phoenix to 'Swing Away'. It was the old "Everything happens for a reason' cliche but it was necessary to help restore the priest's faith.

I too loved how little you see of the invaders up until that moment which greatly built up the suspense which I think helps set Signs apart from most other Alien type movies where their scary visages are front and center.

Would be curious to hear some of Shyamalan's thoughts of his early movies. I still haven't watched The Happening yet.

[KinkyCyborg]

I like the first two acts of Signs very much, but think that it falls apart in the third.

(click to show/hide)

Aliens that have a problem with water trying to invade a planet which has its surface covered 70% by oceans...?

It did show that it was the beginning of the decline. What was next...? The Village (one good act and then falls apart from the second onwards), Lady in the Water and The Happening.

I absolutely adore The Sixth Sense (throws dust in my eyes every time) and agree that Unbreakable was a very interesting twist (SPOILER) on the superhero genre.

To speculate on your Spoiler tag I would offer, without of course having hear the aliens side of the story,

(click to show/hide)

that they were desperate enough for a habitable world, having not discovered any others yet in the vast universe, took a chance with Earth, attempting to limit the threat to themselves by invading as far inland and away from the shores as possible. 

  Shyalaman could have provided a bit more explanation there if only to alleviate those kinds of inevitable questions but I think the WHY? of it was meant to be open to conjecture.

[Najemikon]

The moment you speak of in your Spoiler tag didn't bother me as it played out more like a Mexican standoff with

(click to show/hide)

the alien realizing his predicament, having been left behind and knowing the child was his only leverage then those final moments with his wife and her cryptic last words came to him at that moment which led Gibson to tell Phoenix to 'Swing Away'. It was the old "Everything happens for a reason' cliche but it was necessary to help restore the priest's faith.

I too loved how little you see of the invaders up until that moment which greatly built up the suspense which I think helps set Signs apart from most other Alien type movies where their scary visages are front and center.

Would be curious to hear some of Shyamalan's thoughts of his early movies. I still haven't watched The Happening yet.

It wasn't so much why the scene happened, so much as how. A Mexican stand-off should brim with tension, but it seemed to drag.

I like the first two acts of Signs very much, but think that it falls apart in the third.

(click to show/hide)

Aliens that have a problem with water trying to invade a planet which has its surface covered 70% by oceans...?

  At least the

(click to show/hide)

aliens in War of The Worlds couldn't see the common cold from space!

. But to be fair, Shyamalan's films are usually metaphors about something, so the premise matters less. Signs is probably about faith and redemption.

[KinkyCyborg]

Holy Man



Title:Holy Man
Year: 1998
Director: Stephen Herek
Rating: PG
Length: 114 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Eddie Murphy
Jeff Goldblum
Kelly Preston
Robert Loggia
Jon Cryer

Plot:
The always hilarious Eddie Murphy (Dr. Dolittle) stars with Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park) and Kelly Preston (Jerry Maguire) in a refreshingly funny hit that elevates shopping to a near religious experience! A stressed-out senior executive at the Good Buy home shopping channel, Rick Hayman (Goldblum) is praying for a miracle that will lift the network's lousy ratings and save his job. Then, from out of nowhere, "G" (Murphy) walks into his life! An outrageous, self-styled inspirational guru with a knack for showing up where he isn't exactly wanted, "G" proceeds to wander in front of the cameras 'just long enough' to exude the irrestable star quality that will make him the sales-boosting savior Ricky's network has been looking for! Also featuring a host of well-known celebrities in a sidesplitting series of comic infomercials - you're bound to be another satisfied customer with nothing but praise for Holy Man!

Extras:
Scene Access
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

This wasn't bad with some entertaining bits. Eddie Murphy is actual pretty good in this one in an engaging, understated way. Jeff Goldblum on the other hand is quickly becoming my least favorite actor. This guy has like ZERO range. He looks, talks and acts the same way in every movie and now I am starting to notice how much he resembles a Vulcan. Kelly Preston is predictably sexy and gorgeous once again.

Very average, very middle of the road.

KC

Rating:

[Dragonfire]

I never thought of Jeff Goldblum looking like a Vulcan, but now that you brought it up, I can see it. 

[KinkyCyborg]

Repo Man



Title:Repo Man
Year: 1984
Director: Alex Cox
Rating: R
Length: 92 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Harry Dean Stanton
Emilio Estevez
Tracey Walter
Olivia Barash
Sy Richardson

Plot:
The explosive, action-packed cult classic returns in this all-new special edition. Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton star as "repo men" who get caught up in a series of bizarre adventures involving G-men, a nuclear scientist, UFO cultists and revolutionaries. Put your seat belt on and enjoy the wild ride in this groundbreaking, punk-rock, sci-fi black comedy with all-new bonus materials!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes

My Thoughts:

First time watching this movie which has achieved cult status but count me out as a faithful follower as I thought it was cheesy (not in a good way), ridiculous and unsure of what it wanted to be. I did like how everything was so generic in this seemingly alternate world. I got a good laugh when Estevez started to eat out of the tin can labeled FOOD. 

Emilio was so young in this movie. Where the hell has he disappeared to? 

KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

A Boy And His Dog



Title:A Boy and His Dog
Year: 1975
Director: L. Q. Jones
Rating: R
Length: 91 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles:

Stars:
Don Johnson (1949)
Susanne Benton
Jason Robards
Tim McIntire
Alvy Moore

Plot:
This classic sci-fi tale follows the exploits of a young man and his telepathic dog as they struggle to survive in a post-atomic wilderness. World War Four has ravaged Earth, and its survivors must battle for food, shelter and companionship in the desert-like wasteland. As Vic and his dog Blood eke out a meager existence foraging for food and fighting gangs of cutthroats, a beautiful young woman lures Vic into a bizarre underground city, where he is to be used against his will to impregnate dozens of young ladies.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers

My Thoughts:

Now this is a movie worthy of the cult status it has achieved. 

A post apocalyptic world where the survivors scavenge for food while avoiding the likes of mutants and marauders. Vic, a scavenger himself played by a young Don Johnson does his best to get by with his erstwhile companion Blood, a telepathic dog. Vic finds himself drawn to an underground commune of cult like fanatics called Topeka, led by a pasty Jason Robards and the rest of his evil Committee. They tell Vic they want him to impregnate all of their women which he thinks is a dream come true until he discovers their means of extracting his lusty seed. 

This is cheesy in all the right ways with a simple plot that is grandly delivered. Thick with ironies, this movie has one of the most memorable endings I've ever seen and having watched this before long ago I almost couldn't wait to get to the end to see it again. 

KC

Rating: